Harvick involved in post-race dispute
Kevin Harvick was involved in a post-race altercation for the second night running following Saturday's NASCAR Nextel Cup encounter at Richmond, as the Richard Childress Racing driver took exception to being bumped out of second by Ricky Rudd
The trouble began when Rudd bumped Harvick late in the race on lap 393, sending the RCR star into the Turn 1 wall. Harvick, distant contender in the season points, pulled to the side of Rudd's car after the race, giving it a slight bump. He and Rudd then began a conversation, and men from Harvick's pit crew quickly approached the two cars, leading to escalation.
Harvick climbed out of his car and got on top of it, then walked across onto the bonnet of Rudd's car. Two crewmen followed, jumping hard on the hood and caving it in. NASCAR officials and local constables quickly rounded up the suspects and carried all to the NASCAR office to await the arrival of NASCAR president Mike Helton and series director John Darby.
After 45 minutes, both teams left the office without saying much. "I can't help but be angry," said Harvick, who was also involved in a post-race 'discussion' with Matt Kenseth after the Busch Series race on Friday night. "We're running for the championship this year, and we thought we had another second locked up. We got spun out by the 21."
Rudd denied there was any intent in the collision, and there certainly seemed to be no reason for him to have put the elbow to Harvick. It appeared that Harvick may have braked early for the turn, for whatever reason, but that can not be said for sure.
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